"Beep beep..."
The next morning, a few urgent car horns woke Li Haochen, who was still in a deep sleep. He felt like getting angry, but then remembered it was the second day of the Lunar New Year, a day for new beginnings, so he suppressed his temper.
"Beep beep..."
"Damn, still at it?"
Li Haochen jumped out of bed, grabbed his flip-flops, and ran out.
The moment he stepped out, he froze in place.
It took him a full two minutes to snap back to reality, and then pure joy surged through him, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.
"Happy New Year!"
With a simple New Year's greeting, so much emotion was conveyed. Li Haochen's eyes welled up. He walked over and tightly hugged Murong Yanran and Xie Baolian, his voice choked with emotion as he said, "Mom, Yanran, Happy New Year!"
Murong Yanran gently wiped away Li Haochen's tears and asked with a smile, "Surprised? Hee hee."
"You two are something else, not even saying you were coming."
"Alright, hurry inside, we need to start cooking the New Year's feast."
The three of them went into the kitchen. Xie Baolian started preparing the vegetables, Murong Yanran washed them, and Li Haochen began cooking. The family worked together, creating a very warm scene.
Li Dehai, who had come to deliver the chicken, was also happy for Li Haochen upon seeing that Xie Baolian and the others had arrived.
However, he also had preparations for the New Year's feast to attend to, so he didn't stay to chat further. As he was leaving, he warmly invited Xie Baolian and the others to join them for a simple dinner that evening.
Li Haochen knew that this "simple dinner" would likely be anything but.
The New Year's feast dishes were similar to those for the reunion dinner, but the offerings for the ancestral worship were all made with Fa Gao (prosperity cakes).
With the addition of the two of them, the preparation of the New Year's feast went much faster, and everything was done in less than two hours.
After performing the rituals and eating, it was already one in the afternoon. The washing of dishes and tidying up was naturally not left to them; they were too tired.
Indeed, they were quite exhausted. They had driven for over ten hours and hadn't rested, and then they had helped prepare the New Year's feast. They were now sitting on chairs, their heads nodding like pecking chicks.
Li Haochen went into his room, tidied up, and spread out the freshly washed blankets and pillows. He then came out and nudged the two women, "Mom, Yanran, go into the room and rest."
The two were indeed at their limit. They walked in and lay down on the bed, falling asleep within seconds.
Closing the door, Li Haochen began to clear the dishes.
The old saying was right: cooking is easy, but cleaning up is difficult. No wonder more and more people nowadays opt for disposable bowls, plates, and tablecloths during festivals; it makes life so much easier without washing dishes.
By the time everything was tidied up, it was nearly four o'clock, and Li Haochen’s back was aching. The work wasn’t finished yet; the washed dishes specifically for the offerings had to be put into a sieve and placed in the yard to air dry. If any water remained, they would mold over time.
With all the work done, Li Haochen moved a rattan chair into the yard to rest.
He was tired too and ended up falling asleep without realizing it.
He slept very soundly and wouldn't have woken up if Li Dehai hadn't called them for dinner.
After sleeping for three to four hours, Murong Yanran and the others were much more refreshed. They washed their faces and walked to the car. They unloaded a lot of things from the trunk; these were gifts they had specially prepared for Li Haochen's uncle and other relatives.
Li Haochen walked over to take a look. They were already divided into individual bags and labeled with names, showing how thoughtful they were.
Carrying his uncle's portion, he walked over. The moment he entered, he saw the dishes on the table. As expected, he was amazed by the abundance. Where had all this fresh seafood come from in just one afternoon?
After dinner, Li Haochen took Murong Yanran and Xie Baolian with him to deliver the gifts, wanting his own relatives to meet them.
By the time they had visited all the relatives, it was almost eleven o'clock.
At this point, they were packing their luggage and also boxing up the mountain of return gifts they had received.
Xie Baolian needed to visit her husband's and her own families, so the dried goods from the relatives had to be put into Murong Yanran's car. Fortunately, she was driving the hotel's Cullinan this time; otherwise, the Smart car wouldn't have been able to hold everything.
They would be leaving the next day, and Li Haochen was naturally reluctant. There were so many words he wanted to say, but there was no opportunity to express them tonight. However, intimate moments were still possible.
Xie Baolian's shower time presented a perfect opportunity. He kissed her and caressed her, causing Murong Yanran to gasp for breath.
Li Haochen didn't dare to tease them too much, or he would be the one suffering.
The next day, Li Haochen woke up early to cook. There was no need to prepare dishes; they had a lot of leftover chicken from the past couple of days, which had been marinated with coarse salt. After washing it twice and adding some scallions, steaming it would provide an unparalleled taste experience.
Soon, Murong Yanran and the others also woke up. After breakfast, Li Haochen took Murong Yanran to visit his great-uncle, who had been asking about them for a long time.
Seeing them now, he was overjoyed. Even Li Haochen, who was usually favored, was neglected as his great-uncle kept Murong Yanran’s hand, recounting numerous embarrassing stories from Li Haochen’s childhood.
Murong Yanran listened attentively, occasionally covering her mouth to stifle a giggle and glancing at Li Haochen.
They spent a considerable amount of time with Li Shuren, talking non-stop. He repeated himself often, likely unsure if he had already told a story, but as long as he was happy, that was all that mattered.
When they left, both of them received a large red envelope. It was indeed quite substantial, as Li Shuren took out a thick stack of red banknotes from his inner pocket and handed half of it to Li Haochen and the others.
Li Haochen dared not refuse, or his great-uncle would throw a tantrum. Half an hour later, Murong Yanran and the other woman drove back.
For the next few days, Li Haochen visited relatives every morning and worked on nurturing coconut seedlings in his space in the afternoon. He didn't overexert himself, spending only about an hour each day planting over a thousand seedlings.
Soon it was the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, and it was time for a class reunion. If not for this gathering, Li Haochen would have wanted to accompany Xie Baolian to visit her relatives.
That afternoon, Li Haochen put on his Prada suit and styled his short hair with some wax. Glancing in the mirror, he looked truly handsome.
A while later, seeing that it was about time, he rode his little Aima towards the city.